Thursday, November 15, 2012

Vergilian Society Tours - Summer 2013

The Vergilian Society has several Summer 2013 tours which may be of interest to Latin teachers. The tours are listed below (click "read more"). For additional information and details about each tour, please visit the Society's website:

We will visit sites linked to major and minor gods and mythological characters, discussing both the physical remains at the sites and the literary texts that inform our understanding of their associated myths and rituals. Participants will begin the journey in the city of Antalya on the southern Turkish coast, with visits to nearby Perge and the Antalya Museum. After excursions to Olympos, the mysterious flames of the Chimera and the sanctuary of Leto near Xanthos, the group will then continue on to Fethiye to enjoy a day touring the Lycian coast by boat. Turning inland, we will then visit Hierapolis, Aphrodisias, and Nysa. The tour will then head southwards to ancient Halicarnassus and embark on a ferry trip to Knidos. We will then spend several days visiting major sites along the western coast of Turkey, including Didyma, Priene, Ephesus, Claros, Pergamum, Assos, Tenedos, and Alexander Troas. After a day exploring ancient Troy and discussing the events of the Homeric conflict, the group will cross the Hellespont via ferry and proceed to Istanbul. The trip will end with a day in modern Istanbul, where we will tour the major ancient monuments, visit the famous Archaeology Museum, and get a taste of modern Turkish life. Price: $2,575: Single supplement: $425

The Italy of Caesar and Vergil: A Workshop for Teachers July 2-13, 2013

Directors: Anne Haeckl and Amy Leonard

This workshop for high school Latin teachers will combine classroom sessions in successful pedagogical practices with thematically relevant site visits that illuminate the lives and works of Caesar and Vergil. Morning study sessions will provide ideas and skills to enrich both beginning and advanced courses, with a focus on the readings and abilities required by the revised Advanced Placement syllabus. Afternoon site and museum visits will contextualize the writings of these authors elucidating the common themes of Caesar's commentarii and Vergil's Aeneid. Through thoughtfully constructed lectures and on-site readings from ancient writers, teachers will acquire interpretive insights and instructional strategies for teaching these essential authors. Sites include: Rome (Forum, Palatine, Campus Martius), Temple of Apollo and Atrium of the Sibyl at Cumae, Lake Avernus, Tomb of Vergil, Sperlonga, Pompeii, Lavinium, Herculaneum and Vesuvius. Price: $2,595

From Neapolis to Apragapolis: The Greco-Roman Bay of Naples July 15 - 27, 2013

Directors: James Andrews and Randall Colaizzi

The Bay of Naples was always one of the most important centers of Classical culture, and the culminating destination of the European Grand Tour. It was the foothold of the Greeks in their colonization of Magna Graecia; the scene of decisive moments in the Punic, Social, and Slave Wars of the Roman Republic; and the graveyard of Pompeii, Herculaneum, and the hundreds of villas buried by the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD. Celebrated here were the fishponds of Lucullus, the aqueduct of Augustus, the real extravagances of Nero, and the fictional eccentricities of Petronius. Greeks, Etruscans, Samnites, Lucanians, and Romans lived here; Augustus, Tiberius, and Pliny the Elder died here. We will visit the archaeological sites and the several museums which preserve the artifacts from two millennia of Greco-Roman culture. Sites include Sperlonga, Terracina, Cumae, Lake Avernus, Solfatara, Pompeii, Naples, Paestum, Pozzuoli, Beneventum, Saepinum, Herculaneum, Oplontis (Torre Annunziata), Capri, Baiae, Bacoli, Misenum. Price: $2,595

We shall walk in the footsteps of Trojan Aeneas upon the acropolis of Cumae, in the Sibyl's cave, and at Lake Avernus, where he descended alive into the Land of the Dead. Vergil's immortalization of this landscape in the Aeneid resulted in many medieval legends attributing to him the magical power of transforming the landscape. Thus all the hot springs in the area were thought by medievalists to have been of his creation. With this and the Aeneid in mind we shall explore with on-site lectures the marvels of Cumae and other early Greek settlements set within the Flaming (Phlegraean) Fields and its environs, and explore places familiar to Vergil. Price: $2,595